


Heaven Sent

by Flannel_and_Autism



Series: Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff. [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: HeartGold & SoulSilver | Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver Versions
Genre: Doctor Who References, Experience Grinding, Gen, Inspired by Doctor Who, Level Grinding, Plot Twists, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 13:48:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18605782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flannel_and_Autism/pseuds/Flannel_and_Autism
Summary: They say insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. But what if doing the same thing is slowly, gradually chipping away at the objective? Slow progress is still progress, and the evidence is right in front of him.Ethan is hell bent on defeating the legendary Red Tajiri in battle and getting him to come down from Mt. Silver ... even if it takes him an eternity to get there.





	Heaven Sent

If the sun rises, then the mountain certainly isn’t aware of it. The snow piles up, as high as several feet off the ground in some areas, and it would take more than a single star a hundred and fifty million kilometres away to melt away the collective result of thousands of years of snow and Ice-type Pokémon.

No, the snow doesn’t even budge under the sun’s heat, and as grateful as Ethan is for its presence, it’s doing virtually nothing to help him against the cold. Come to think of it, _everything_ is doing virtually nothing against the cold; his several layers of thick winter clothes and the Typhlosion by his side might be preventing him from succumbing to hypothermia, but they’re certainly not making him any less uncomfortable.

They all warned him about how cold it would be when he announced his intentions to come here, but they never said it would be this cold.

Honestly, he declared his intentions to come here along time ago; he declared his intentions to come here as a naive eight-year-old. But eight-year-olds aren’t exactly known for their dedication, so nobody believed him until he re-announced his intentions three years later, at age eleven.

Eleven is how old Red Tajiri was when he became Champion.

Red’s still Champion, technically, even three years later. Lance has taken over his position, but nobody’s ever beaten the boy, not once, not even the Gym Leader in Viridian who knew him before he was strong. Green says that he started with a Charmander and Red with a Bulbasaur, and Red beat him in their first ever battle despite the type advantage.

Green gave his Charizard to Red, so he wouldn’t end up freezing to death on Mt. Silver. He used to use his Charizard to fly around but now he uses his Pidgeot instead.

Ethan’s mother told him a story about a Pidgeot once, but he can’t remember it now.

Anyway, Red is technically still the Champion, but not in practice. He shares that title with two others, in a way.

One is Lance, the reigning Champion due to a loophole in the League regulations, but beaten by two children with ease. The other is Ethan himself, having defeated Lance, but not allowed to reign as Champion in the Indigo Plateau due to a law introduced after Red went to Mt. Silver, a law preventing Champions from being under sixteen years of age.

Because something about being Champion changed Red. Cracked him. Damaged him. Caused him to venture out to the top of this mountain, telling nobody but his trusted childhood friend Green of his intentions. Rescue teams were sent after him, of course, but he refused. They insisted, so he battled them, and he won. For three years after that, the people of Kanto and Johto believed that if a Trainer could ever defeat Red in battle, that would be what it takes to persuade him to come back.

Ethan believes this story, but he does not believe the part where it’s supposedly impossible to defeat him in battle.

His winter boots leave heavy footprints in the snow as he climbs, and he wants to rest more than anything, but he knows that his human body can’t withstand the biting cold for long and he can’t afford to waste any of his time. He wants go home but he can’t; he didn’t bring enough food for the return journey, and his Flying-type Pokémon are weak to the snow, making it unsafe to ride them back down.

He’s well past the point of no return; either he convinces Red to fly him down on Charizard, or he learns how Red has survived for three years on the mountain and does the same.

At last, he finds him. At the very summit of the mountain, he’s there, wearing just a regular t-shirt and jeans with nothing but a light vest to shield him from the cold, yet not shivering half as bad as Ethan. The Charizard by his side is surely warming him immensely, but it would have to be extremely powerful to protect him in these temperatures.

In the pure white of the snow around them, Red’s eyes almost seem to glow. They’re a piercing scarlet colour, and Ethan briefly wonders if they’re the reason for his unusual name. It’s not unheard of, really; his friend Silver is supposedly named for his grey eyes. However, Silver has also claimed on other occasions that he is named after Lugia, the very mountain Ethan is on, and some obscure uncreatively-named Hoennian inventor. Being Giovanni’s son would make anyone a good liar.

Still, Ethan has a battle to finish -- in fact, he has a battle to start.

He takes a Poké Ball out of his pocket and holds it out. “Red, I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!”

Red accepts the challenge.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Lapras falls to the ground.

The problem is that Lapras is the first and the weakest of Red’s Pokémon and Ethan must defeat five more to be victorious, whilst Red only has to defeat the Typhlosion that’s barely standing.

Ethan feels something he never expected to feel on this trip: despair. He’ll never convince Red to come back down at this rate. If he’s lucky, Red will be kind and get his Charizard to drag Ethan to the bottom of the mountain. If he’s unlucky, well … well, Red’s been living here for three years, so it’s clearly not impossible to survive.

He’s about to forfeit the battle for his sake and Typhlosion’s; with no access to a Pokémon Centre, he’ll need at least one Pokémon standing, and being defeated in battle in such a cold climate can’t be good for a Fire-type’s health. It’s not as if he has a chance anyway; not as though an injured and exhausted Typlosion could defeat five of Red’s Pokémon single-handedly.

Then he sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. And despite being locked in an impossible situation, he laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How--’”

He’s cut off mid-sentence by his own shocked gasp as Red’s Snorlax delivers the finishing blow, and everything after that is a bit hazy.

He ends up at the bottom of the mountain, and he strongly suspects that Red’s Charizard carried him down. He gets to the nearest Pokémon Center to heal up his team, then finds his friend Crystal.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Lapras falls to the ground.

The problem is that Lapras is the first and the weakest of Red’s Pokémon and Ethan must defeat five more to be victorious, whilst Red only has to defeat the Typhlosion that’s severely injured.

Ethan feels something he never expected to feel on this trip: despair. He’ll never convince Red to come back down at this rate. If he’s lucky, Red will be kind and get his Charizard to drag Ethan to the bottom of the mountain. If he’s unlucky, well … well, Red’s been living here for three years, so it’s clearly not impossible to survive.

He’s about to forfeit the battle for his sake and Typhlosion’s; with no access to a Pokémon Centre, he’ll need at least one Pokémon standing, and being defeated in battle in such a cold climate can’t be good for a Fire-type’s health. It’s not as if he has a chance anyway; not as though an injured and exhausted Typlosion could defeat five of Red’s Pokémon single-handedly.

Then he sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. And despite being locked in an impossible situation, he laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How--’”

In the middle of his sentence, Red’s Snorlax delivers a powerful blow to Typhlosion. But as Typhlosion gets back to its feet, Ethan continues talking. “A farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How long is eternity?’ And the Ace Trainer says --”

He’s cut off mid-sentence by his own shocked gasp as Red’s Snorlax delivers the finishing blow, and everything after that is a bit hazy.

He ends up at the bottom of the mountain, and he strongly suspects that Red’s Charizard carried him down. He gets to the nearest Pokémon Center to heal up his team, then finds his friend Crystal.

His friend Crystal has caught Celebi.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Lapras falls to the ground.

The problem is that Lapras is the first and the weakest of Red’s Pokémon and Ethan must defeat five more to be victorious, whilst Red only has to defeat the Typhlosion that’s badly injured.

Ethan feels something he never expected to feel on this trip: despair. He’ll never convince Red to come back down at this rate. If he’s lucky, Red will be kind and get his Charizard to drag Ethan to the bottom of the mountain. If he’s unlucky, well … well, Red’s been living here for three years, so it’s clearly not impossible to survive.

He’s about to forfeit the battle for his sake and Typhlosion’s; with no access to a Pokémon Centre, he’ll need at least one Pokémon standing, and being defeated in battle in such a cold climate can’t be good for a Fire-type’s health. It’s not as if he has a chance anyway; not as though an injured and exhausted Typlosion could defeat five of Red’s Pokémon single-handedly.

Then he sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. And despite being locked in an impossible situation, he laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How long is eternity?’ And the Ace Trainer says, ‘Imagine a mountain as tall as Mt. Silver, but made entirely of diamond. Every --’”

He’s cut off mid-sentence by his own shocked gasp as Red’s Snorlax delivers the finishing blow, and everything after that is a bit hazy.

He ends up at the bottom of the mountain, and he strongly suspects that Red’s Charizard carried him down. He gets to the nearest Pokemon Center to heal up his team, then finds his friend Crystal.

His friend Crystal has caught Celebi.

He gives a confusing explanation on what’s happened and what’s happening and what his plan is, and she believes him enough to oblige.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Lapras falls to the ground.

The problem is that Lapras is the first and the weakest of Red’s Pokémon and Ethan must defeat five more to be victorious, whilst Red only has to defeat the Typhlosion that’s already injured.

Ethan feels something he never expected to feel on this trip: despair. He’ll never convince Red to come back down at this rate. If he’s lucky, Red will be kind and get his Charizard to drag Ethan to the bottom of the mountain. If he’s unlucky, well … well, Red’s been living here for three years, so it’s clearly not impossible to survive.

He’s about to forfeit the battle for his sake and Typhlosion’s; with no access to a Pokémon Centre, he’ll need at least one Pokémon standing, and being defeated in battle in such a cold climate can’t be good for a Fire-type’s health. It’s not as if he has a chance anyway; not as though an injured and exhausted Typlosion could defeat five of Red’s Pokémon single-handedly.

Then he sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. And despite being locked in an impossible situation, he laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How long is eternity?’ And the Ace Trainer says, ‘Imagine a mountain as tall as Mt. Silver, but made entirely of diamond. And every hundred years, a Pidgeot comes and sharpens its beak on --’”

He’s cut off mid-sentence by his own shocked gasp as Red’s Snorlax delivers the finishing blow, and everything after that is a bit hazy.

He ends up at the bottom of the mountain, and he strongly suspects that Red’s Charizard carried him down. He gets to the nearest Pokémon Center to heal up his team, then finds his friend Crystal.

His friend Crystal has caught Celebi.

He gives a confusing explanation on what’s happened and what’s happening and what his plan is, and she believes him enough to oblige.

Celebi gives him a weak memory-wipe so that his obliviousness to the situation can protect him, and sends him back in time.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Lapras falls to the ground.

The problem is that Lapras is the first and the weakest of Red’s Pokémon and Ethan must defeat five more to be victorious, whilst Red only has to defeat the Typhlosion that’s mildly injured.

Ethan feels something he never expected to feel on this trip: despair. He’ll never convince Red to come back down at this rate. If he’s lucky, Red will be kind and get his Charizard to drag Ethan to the bottom of the mountain. If he’s unlucky, well … well, Red’s been living here for three years, so it’s clearly not impossible to survive.

He’s about to forfeit the battle for his sake and Typhlosion’s; with no access to a Pokémon Centre, he’ll need at least one Pokémon standing, and being defeated in battle in such a cold climate can’t be good for a Fire-type’s health. It’s not as if he has a chance anyway; not as though an injured and exhausted Typlosion could defeat five of Red’s Pokémon single-handedly.

Then he sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. And despite being locked in an impossible situation, he laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How long is eternity?’ And the Ace Trainer says, ‘Imagine a mountain as tall as Mt. Silver, but made entirely of diamond. And every hundred years, a Pidgeot comes and sharpens its beak on the mountain. When the entire mountain has been chiseled away --’”

Mid-sentence, Red’s Snorlax delivers the finishing blow, and everything after that is a bit hazy.

He ends up at the bottom of the mountain, and he strongly suspects that Red’s Charizard carried him down. He gets to the nearest Pokémon Center to heal up his team, then finds his friend Crystal.

His friend Crystal has caught Celebi.

He gives a confusing explanation on what’s happened and what’s happening and what his plan is, and she believes him enough to oblige.

Celebi gives him a weak memory-wipe so that his obliviousness to the situation can protect him, and sends him back in time, and he goes back up Mt. Silver again.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Snorlax falls to the ground.

The problem is that Snorlax is the second of Red’s Pokémon and Ethan must defeat four more to be victorious, whilst Red only has to defeat the Typhlosion that’s badly injured.

Ethan feels something he never expected to feel on this trip: despair. He’ll never convince Red to come back down at this rate. If he’s lucky, Red will be kind and get his Charizard to drag Ethan to the bottom of the mountain. If he’s unlucky, well … well, Red’s been living here for three years, so it’s clearly not impossible to survive.

He’s about to forfeit the battle for his sake and Typhlosion’s; with no access to a Pokémon Centre, he’ll need at least one Pokemon standing, and being defeated in battle in such a cold climate can’t be good for a Fire-type’s health. It’s not as if he has a chance anyway; not as though an injured and exhausted Typlosion could defeat four of Red’s Pokémon single-handedly.

Then he sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. And despite being locked in an impossible situation, he laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How long is eternity?’ And the Ace Trainer says, ‘Imagine a mountain as tall as Mt. Silver, but made entirely of diamond. And every hundred years, a Pidgeot comes and sharpens its beak on the mountain. When the entire mountain has been chiseled away, the first second of eternity has passed.’”

As soon as he finishes that sentence, Red’s Blastoise delivers the finishing blow, and everything after that is a bit hazy.

He ends up at the bottom of the mountain, and he strongly suspects that Red’s Charizard carried him down. He gets to the nearest Pokémon Center to heal up his team, then finds his friend Crystal.

His friend Crystal has caught Celebi.

He gives a confusing explanation on what’s happened and what’s happening and what his plan is, and she believes him enough to oblige.

Celebi gives him a weak memory-wipe so that his obliviousness to the situation can protect him, and sends him back in time, and he goes back up Mt. Silver again, just as he has done many times before.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Blastoise falls to the ground.

The problem is that Blastoise is the third of Red’s Pokémon and Ethan must defeat three more to be victorious, whilst Red only has to defeat the Typhlosion that’s severely injured.

Ethan feels something he never expected to feel on this trip: despair. He’ll never convince Red to come back down at this rate. If he’s lucky, Red will be kind and get his Charizard to drag Ethan to the bottom of the mountain. If he’s unlucky, well … well, Red’s been living here for three years, so it’s clearly not impossible to survive.

He’s about to forfeit the battle for his sake and Typhlosion’s; with no access to a Pokemon Centre, he’ll need at least one Pokemon standing, and being defeated in battle in such a cold climate can’t be good for a Fire-type’s health. It’s not as if he has a chance anyway; not as though an injured and exhausted Typlosion could defeat three of Red’s Pokémon single-handedly.

Then he sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. And despite being locked in an impossible situation, he laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How long is eternity?’ And the Ace Trainer says, ‘Imagine a mountain as tall as Mt. Silver, but made entirely of diamond. And every hundred years, a Pidgeot comes and sharpens its beak on the mountain. When the entire mountain has been chiseled away, the first second of eternity has passed.’”

He pauses, as his Typhlosion continues to withstand attacks from Venusaur, and then says, “You might think that’s a hell of a time.”

As soon as he finishes that sentence, Red’s Venusaur delivers the finishing blow, and everything after that is a bit hazy.

He ends up at the bottom of the mountain, and he strongly suspects that Red’s Charizard carried him down. He gets to the nearest Pokémon Center to heal up his team, then finds his friend Crystal.

His friend Crystal has caught Celebi.

He gives a confusing explanation on what’s happened and what’s happening and what his plan is, and she believes him enough to oblige.

Celebi gives him a weak memory-wipe so that his obliviousness to the situation can protect him, and sends him back in time, and he goes back up Mt. Silver again, just as he has done many times before.

His memories might be gone, but the experience points Typhlosion has gained from battling aren’t.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Venusaur falls to the ground.

The problem is that Venusaur is the fourth of Red’s Pokémon and Ethan must defeat two more to be victorious, whilst Red only has to defeat the Typhlosion that’s already slightly injured.

Ethan feels something he never expected to feel on this trip: doubt. He’ll never convince Red to come back down at this rate. If he’s lucky, Red will be kind and get his Charizard to drag Ethan to the bottom of the mountain. If he’s unlucky, well … well, Red’s been living here for three years, so it’s clearly not impossible to survive.

He’s about to forfeit the battle for his sake and Typhlosion’s; with no access to a Pokémon Centre, he’ll need at least one Pokémon standing, and being defeated in battle in such a cold climate can’t be good for a Fire-type’s health. It’s not as if he has a chance anyway; he’s not sure Typhlosion can defeat two of Red’s Pokémon single-handedly.

Then he sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. And despite being locked in an impossible situation, he laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How long is eternity?’ And the Ace Trainer says, ‘Imagine a mountain as tall as Mt. Silver, but made entirely of diamond. And every hundred years, a Pidgeot comes and sharpens its beak on the mountain. When the entire mountain has been chiseled away, the first second of eternity has passed.’”

He pauses, as his Typhlosion continues to withstand attacks from Charizard, and then says, “You might think that’s a hell of a time.”

Another pause. “Personally, I think --”

Mid-sentence, Red’s Charizard delivers the finishing blow, and everything after that is a bit hazy.

He ends up at the bottom of the mountain, and he strongly suspects that Red’s Charizard carried him down. He gets to the nearest Pokémon Center to heal up his team, then finds his friend Crystal.

His friend Crystal has caught Celebi.

He gives a confusing explanation on what’s happened and what’s happening and what his plan is, and she believes him enough to oblige.

Celebi gives him a weak memory-wipe so that his obliviousness to the situation can protect him, and sends him back in time, and he goes back up Mt. Silver again, just as he has done many times before.

His memories might be gone, but the experience points Typhlosion has gained from battling aren’t, and they’ve made it stronger than Red’s Pokémon could ever hope to be.

* * *

The battle is long and gruelling, and all of Ethan’s Pokémon kneel over in defeat except his beloved Typhlosion, but finally Charizard falls to the ground.

Now it’s finally a fair battle -- Typhlosion VS Pikachu, one-on-one, strongest Pokémon against strongest Pokémon. But Ethan is confident that he’ll win.

He sees a Pidgeot flying overhead, and he remembers the story his mother told him when he was young. He remembers a lot of other things, too. He remembers his original plan. He laughs -- not a self-deprecating laugh or a nervous laugh, but a victorious one.

“You know,” he begins. “My mother told me a story when I was little. You see, a farmer asks an Ace Trainer, ‘How long is eternity?’ And the Ace Trainer says, ‘Imagine a mountain as tall as Mt. Silver, but made entirely of diamond. And every hundred years, a Pidgeot comes and sharpens its beak on the mountain. When the entire mountain has been chiseled away, the first second of eternity has passed.’”

He pauses, as his Typhlosion continues to withstand attacks from Pikachu, and then says, “You might think that’s a hell of a time.”

Another pause. “Personally,” he says as Typhlosion prepares the finishing blow. “I think that’s a hell of a Pidgeot.”

As soon as he finishes the sentence, Typhlosion delivers the finishing blow and Pikachu collapses into the snow. Red gasps in shock, the first noise he’s made with his mouth since Ethan first saw him.

But slowly, Ethan takes a Max Revive out of his pocket, and gestures to the Poké Ball containing Charizard. Red gets the message, and minutes later, the two fly down the mountain on the Fire-type’s back.

* * *

The first place they go is Pallet Town, to find Red’s loved ones -- his mother and his friend. He exchanges some loving words with his mother, but upon searching, he can’t find Green Oak. He asks Professor Oak, who explains that Green is now the Gym Leader in Viridian City.

This, of course, becomes their new destination.

They run into the Gym, and Green is so overjoyed that he just kisses Red, which is… surprising. Ethan thinks that if the two were publically a couple, someone would have mentioned it. Then again, Red was eleven when the two last saw each other; he supposes they could have easily disguised their relationship as prepubescent friendships to fool the media.

As Red leaves to use the bathroom -- a task that takes longer than it should, because three years of isolation have left him barely remembering what a toilet is -- Green insists that Ethan sit down, have a cup of coffee, and listen to his endless gratitude for Red’s safe return. Ethan, in turn, thanks Green and explains how he helped, in some small way.

Green probably thinks he’s insane when he explains how Green’s Pidgeot inspired him to keep going thanks to a story his mother told him and a time-traveling mythical Pokémon.

Ethan lets him think that.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> As y'all may have guessed, this is HEAVILY inspired by the "Heaven Sent" episode of Doctor Who. 
> 
> My favourite method of beating difficult opponents in the Pokemon games was always "wait, I can beat all of Steven's Pokemon except Metagross, right? So if I battle him and lose enough times, I'll have enough EXP points to be high enough leveled to beat him!" and I sort of wanted to see if I could get that to work in a fanfic where, well, it's not a video game where you die when you lose.


End file.
